This is the fantasy life that you have before you arrive to your new country. It’s the imaginative world that you create for yourself that lets you think about how your new life will be. I was 34, I had three young children, on the brink of...
The tragedy was this: my daughter’s friend was shot and killed in the early morning hours of January 1, 2017 by another student from her school who hid in her bedroom until she came home from a friend’s house and then proceeded to attack her. The shock and...
Marienberg Park lies next to the airport and in the shadows of the planes that arrive into and depart from Nuremberg, Nuremberg, the town known for toys and lebkuchen and the Christkind, first became my home at the end of 2009. Since the beginning, I’ve always felt...
I have tried to live my life by the principle of charity. It’s the notion that you respect those you disagree with enough to acknowledge the context within which they formed their world view. You respect their positions and offer charity to them, recognizing their humanity and...
Lots of places like to claim to be the buckle of the Bible belt in the southeastern U.S. Knoxville, TN isn’t the buckle, but more likely a well used notch on the way to the real thing. This to say that I’ve seen my share of...
I’ve reflected so often on what draws me into Nuremberg. It’s not New York or Paris or Munich. It’s small, there’s no obvious draws, and the parking is often terrible. But, once the grocery store ladies have been left behind and the car has been parked, the...
This American Life reran an episode called “An American in Paris” last weekend. Host Ira Glass walks around Paris with American author David Sedaris who at that time had lived there for two years. The episode is old, from 2000, but Sedaris breaks down the experience...
There comes a time in every ex-pat’s life abroad when the tables turn, just for a moment, as they become the tour guides of their adopted homeland. It’s really a time to shine. Living abroad, particular in a place where the language is foreign, requires a...
*This post began as a letter to a friend… For months since you’ve written about your upcoming trip to ***, and I’ve been trying to think of some words of wisdom to pass on to you. After all, I travel constantly, as a serious hobby. Our family’s...
Anyone else who speaks fluent Denglish will see what I did there. I was on a podcast! I hope it’s not my last one, but it was definitely a life list experience fulfilled. Anticipating my move to Germany in 2009 really was the instigator behind me listening...
